The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-02-10
The Tree-Planting Mania.

In the last century quite a craze for
planting individual trees existed in En-
gland. The fashion was not confined
to any class of people. but was peculiar
from the number of devotees it found
among literary men whose names are
famous. All kinds of trees were plant
ed and great care was lavisned upon
them. but among the literati the willow
was the favorite. The first weeping
willow ever seen in England is said to
have been the one sent to Pope from
Turkey by Lady Mary Wortley Mon
tague and planted by him in his gar
den at Twickenham. 1t was of the
and upon which the weeping daughters
of Jerusalem hung their harps. Garrick
planted two willows on his lawn beside
his Shakespeare temple. One of these
was destroyed by thunderstorm after
his death. Its overthrow greatly dis
tressed his widow, who. as the story
goes, was found running up and down
in the storm wringing her hands and
crying, 20, my Garrick! o. my Gar
rlckr'
The tree known as 'Dr. Johnson's
willow" at Litchtield was said to have
been planted by him. but the story
probably grew out OF his admiration
and talk of it. 1t was blown down Il
generation ago. and at the time of its
destruction measured over four feet N
diameter--a size to which it could
hardly have grown had it been planted
SO late as DIR. Johnson's time. A slip of
the old tree was planted on the same
site, and is now fourishing trunk
Other offsets of the old tree were planted
by his admirers throughout the neigh
boring country. The trunk of the old
tree was worked up into snuff boxes.
canes, and other articles of that class
and sold as mernentoes. Enough of
these are said to exist in England to
absorb half Il dozen trees in their con-
struction.
Byron. when he first went to New
stead Abbey, at the age of ~. planted
an oak there. He had an idea that ss
the tree fiourished so should he. He
awakened 10 find himself famous"
and, returning many years later to
Newstead, found the sapling choked
up with weeds and almost dead.
Scott was too broad a man to fall into
any especial craze. yet he was,perhaps
the most persistent and enthusiastic
tree-planter among the great masters OF
the pen. He found AbbottsfOrd bar
rem heath and left it wooded lawn.
He planted many varieties - willow,
aspen. oak. and birch. He was very
desirous of raising a grove of Spanish
chestnuts. A friend living at Seville,
merchant, volunteered to send him
the seed. When the nuts arrived, how
ever. 1t was found that they had been
boiled.
Rousseau, in France, also had touch
of the tree-planting mania in early life.
His impulse was inspired 10y the master
OF his school, who had upon the grounds
4 tree by which he set great store and
which was the delight of hls life. Rous-
seau and Il companion secured dimin-
utive sapling and set it out in the
schoolyard at short distance from the
handsome tree of the master. The
ground was arid and life was given 10
the big tree only by bringing water to
it. which was done with much labor.
This the two boys could not compass
and to save their hope tunneled a con-
duit under ground from the big to the
little tree, which soon began TO flourish,
while its large neighbor slckened. The
schoolmaster's solicitude led 10 the dis
covery of the scheme and to the preser-
vation of his beloved tree.